Cursed

Chapter Twenty

“Adrienne.” Candace interrupted her concentration sometime later.

She looked up.

“Tara just told me something really interesting. Were you listening?” Candace asked.

“Nope.”

“Go ahead, Tara.”

Adrienne waited for the pretty girl with dark eyes to speak. Tara smiled at Candace before turning to Adrienne.

“The twins dragged out a box from Jay’s closet and were playing with this key. I guess they were trying to find a treasure chest it fit into or whatever kids do,” Tara began. “Jay freaked. I mean, totally. He’s normally never like that, but he actually yelled at them. They both started crying and I confronted him about it. It was awful. Anyways, I asked him what the hell he was thinking, scaring the girls like that.”

Adrienne listened critically, not seeing what the story had to do with her. She glanced at Candace, whose patient smile was a silent sign of encouragement.

“He told me this strange story about the key. I guess Daddy gave it to him. It belonged to one of their ancestors, who used to sell slaves to the New World and who ended up cursed because of how he betrayed everyone he knew just so he could make like, millions of dollars. The key is a reminder to Daddy’s family of the curse, which I guess was supposed to kill the firstborns in Daddy’s family up until Jayden, who was immune because he was born outside the curse. Something about ninety-nine.”

“Ninety nine firstborns. Like my family,” Adrienne said, surprised. “My sister was supposed to be ninety-nine.” Her mind raced. “Candace, is it true? Is Jayden from the family of the man who bought the curse from mine?”

“It sounds too familiar not to be possible,” Candace said. “I can’t say for certain, but I can ask the spirits to enlighten me. Even if we can’t determine for sure, we can ask Jayden to help us. If he’s not the descendent of the same curse, no loss.”

Adrienne shook her head. “Not until we can do something about Kimmie brainwashing him. Tara said he didn’t remember me, and I saw him making out with Kimmie today.” She cleared her throat, embarrassed by the tears that sprang up at the memory. “But even if he was back to normal, he doesn’t believe in voodoo.”

Candace was quiet. Adrienne forced herself to focus on Tara’s story and not her pain.

“What are you thinking, Candace? That he can help us break the curse?” she asked, touching the dog tags at her neck.

Before Candace could answer, the vision she’d seen in the car – that of the two girls playing with the key – hit her. Tara’s words clicked. The two girls were Jayden’s sisters.

“Candace! Do you think the curse is attached to the key? Like how you can put protective spells on things and then give them to someone to keep with them?”

“Possible. I would need to see the key.”

They both looked at Tara.

She shrugged. “Okay. If you think it might help. Can I bring Jayden in, too, so you can fix him?”

“There is no overnight cure for a curse, Tara,” Candace said gently. “But if you can get him here, then it will definitely help.”

Adrienne listened to them talk, mind on Jayden. What were the chances the two of them were descendants of the same curse? Was this why she felt the instant connection to him, or was it simply hormones, as her daddy would say?

The idea Kimmie was robbing Jayden of his ability to think for himself infuriated her. Kimmie couldn’t know the damage she was doing by forcing Jayden to make decisions he wouldn’t normally make. She didn’t understand what the price was for her actions, either.

But Jayden’s cards from Saturday made sense. He fell recklessly in love with someone he shouldn’t have. She took some comfort in knowing there was hope in his future.

Eyes drifting to the iPad and the page of her sister’s journal she’d pulled up, Adrienne felt suddenly anxious to decipher the rest of the music. How long did she have until the Red Man came for her? How long to help Jayden and how long to regain her voice? What if she missed her chance to help Jax and her sister, if it were even possible?

The anger boiling within her turned to fury and desperation.

“It’s not fair!” she shouted, standing.

Candace and Tara both jumped.

“Kimmie is ruining everything!”

“Calm, child,” Candace said. “We’ll –”

“No! It could take weeks, months, to fix my voice and give Jayden his willpower back, if it’s even possible! It’s not good enough, Candace. We have to do more.”

“More? Like what?” Tara asked.

“Like I want to buy a hex to put on Kimmie, to force her to do what I tell her.”

“No, Adrienne. You don’t fight black magic with black magic. It will only cause you great grief,” Candace said.

“So, what? I wait for the Red Man to track me down and kill me when I know I have a chance to break the curse? Jayden ends up with someone he doesn’t like?” Adrienne paced.

“Tara will bring in the key. I can talk to Kimmie, if need be,” Candace urged. “Have faith, Adrienne.”

“I don’t have time for faith, Candace!” Adrienne snapped. “I can buy whatever I need. If you won’t sell it to me, I’ll find someone who will!”

Candace’s frown deepened. “Think this through, Addy. You inherited a curse from the actions of your ancestors. Would you risk doing the same to your family?”

Adrienne blew out a breath. “What if I never get my voice back?”

“We don’t know that.”

It’s not your life at risk! Adrienne kept the words to herself, doubting Candace could understand. By the mambos’ compassionate look, she wasn’t going to budge.

Adrienne grabbed her iPad and shoved it and her notebook away.

“I’m not going to let Kimmie ruin my life and Jayden’s,” she said and slung her bag over her shoulder. After a moment of thought, she yanked off the dog tags and slapped them on the table in front of Tara. “Take these. Maybe they’ll keep Kimmie’s curse from getting worse. I’ll find someone else to help us.” She pushed aside the curtain separating the shrine room from the front of the store and marched out.

“Adrienne, wait!” Candace called.

Adrienne ignored her. She hurried outside and paused, glancing both ways.

At home, she’d wouldn’t know where to get such a spell. Here, she just needed to find a legit bokor and not one of the tourist traps.

She wanted to scream out of frustration. Worry made her breath short, and she struggled to think clearly. There didn’t seem to be much of a choice now. She had to stop Kimmie. If it was only her life to consider, she might be willing to listen to Candace.

But not Jayden. The idea of Kimmie taking away the only guy ever interested in her, who was perfect in every way Adrienne could imagine, made her sick.

It wasn’t right for one person to ruin so many lives.

She was gritting her teeth hard enough to cause a headache. Adrienne rubbed her temples then picked a direction. She made it to the end of the block before she heard someone new call her name.

“Adrienne.”

She suspected Rene had hunted her down. She turned, not expecting to see Jax a few feet behind her. He moved too quietly for her to hear him approach. Today, he wore a t-shirt that displayed the tattoos running down his roped forearms. He wore no mask, though the creepy skeleton was drawn on his face with Halloween makeup.

“You look like Baron Samedi,” she murmured.

“It’s how I show my respect for him,” he said. “Where you going?”

“I know. Don’t walk alone,” she said, irritated. “But it’s broad daylight. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Your daddy’s apartment is that way.” He turned and lifted his chin towards the opposite direction she was headed.

Adrienne crossed her arms. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

The lean gang leader approached her, pausing less than a foot away. Adrienne tilted her head back to meet his blue-green gaze. There was an odd, predatory gleam in his eyes that made her wish Rene was there.

“You really wanna play this game with me?” he asked softly. “These are my streets, Adrienne. No one crosses me on my streets.”

“I’m not …” she drifted off then swallowed her anger.

Help Jax.

She began to doubt the latest piece of advice from her long-dead sister. Jax seemed completely in control, not the kind of man who needed help.

“I need to find a bokor,” she answered him.

“Why?”

“Um, there’s a girl at school bothering me.” She dropped her gaze to his chest as she spoke, uncertain why her instincts didn’t like the idea of telling him it had to do with the curse.

Jax was silent, still, long enough for her to doubt he believed her. She didn’t look up, instead studying his lean frame. Her sister had fallen in love with this man. The gentlest person on earth, how had Therese managed to tame someone who seemed so … hard? Cold?

“That’s my sister,” she said, eyes lingering on one tattoo on his arm. “She was happy with you.”

His tension was scaring her.

Adrienne withdrew the picture Rene gave her.

Jax took it. The sight of Therese had an instant effect. He took a deep breath and shook out his shoulders.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “We were happy together.”

Sensing his dangerous mood had passed, Adrienne stepped away until she was comfortable with the distance between them.

“You need a bokor,” Jax repeated, eyes on the picture. “C’mon. I’ll take you.” He pocketed the picture and started away.

Adrienne watched him, wanting to run, but suspecting he could find her, wherever she went, as long as she was in his territory.

Now would be a good time to show up, Rene, she said silently, dwelling on the younger brother’s warning not to be around Jax.

Jax glanced back over his shoulder, his gait slowing.

Adrienne scrambled after him, afraid of him without understanding what it was about him that scared her.

He went into the nearest alley, where a motorcycle waited. Straddling it, he tossed her the single helmet.

“Hop on,” he told her.

“Um, are we going far?” she asked.

“No.”

Adrienne went.

Help Jax.

Maybe this is what her sister wanted her to do, to go with him. Therese had trusted him at one point, and she’d possessed some woman’s body long enough to deliver the message to Adrienne that Jax needed help.

Feeling a little more confident, Adrienne climbed on back of the motorcycle, situated her cross-body bag and wrapped her arms around him.

“Ready?” he shouted above the roar of the bike.

“Yes!”

The bike shot forward. Adrienne gasped and clung to him.

Jax tore through the streets, not stopping for traffic, weaving in and out of cars and bypassing red lights with sudden turns.

Adrienne clung to him, at first horrified by the speed and air rushing by her. Her fear was replaced by a thrill as she realized the extent of Jax’s deft skill. He drove with a sixth sense, as if he could predict what the cars and people around them were going to do before they did it. Her heart slammed into her chest as they passed within inches of trucks and cut off cars with a hair’s width of space to spare.

The ride became mesmerizing enough that she forgot to watch to see where they went. The compact blocks grew longer, the frequent stoplights spaced farther a part. Not once did Jax stop at a red light.

After her nightmarish few days, the release of adrenaline lifted her spirits.

The breathless twenty minute ride slowed and stopped. Jax propped one leg against the curb in front of a long row of townhouses with brick facades.

Adrienne climbed off, her legs wobbly and her body humming from exhilaration. She looked around. A small, grassy park was opposite the row houses, and older cars lined the curbs. It was a nicer section of town than where she lived, but not by much. There were bars over the windows of the houses lining the park.

“Where are we?” she asked curiously.

“Where you need to be.” Jax swung his leg off the motorcycle and pried the helmet off her. He draped it over the handlebars then strode forwards.

He took the stairs in front of one row house two at a time. True to his nature, he didn’t knock, but walked right in.

Adrienne followed him and paused in the narrow foyer beyond the front door. Somewhere in the house, a television was playing. The hallway before her had two open doorways – one on each side – and led to a set of stairs going up.

Jax appeared through one of the doorways.

“You got an iPad in there?” he asked, motioning to her bag.

“Yeah. School-issued,” she replied.

“Cell phone?” he asked. He reached forward and grabbed the strap, pulling it off.

“Um, no.”

He unzipped the bag and pulled out the iPad then handed the bag back. Without speaking, he started down the hallway. He tossed the device into one of the open doorways.

“C’mon,” he said.

Adrienne trailed, hesitating at the doorway where he’d tossed her iPad. It sat on a couch cushion in a tiny formal living room. Her excitement from the ride was beginning to fade, replaced by unease.

Jax had passed the stairs and was trotting up a second set of stairs leading to the top level of the row house.

Adrienne followed. The upper level consisted of a short hallway and three doors. One led to a small guest bedroom while the other had a laundry room. Jax had disappeared into the third doorway, and she went to it, pausing. A set of wooden stairs led upward to a dark attic she couldn’t see much of, aside from the beams holding up the roof. She glanced at the door, wondering why they needed one so thick that looked like it was made out of metal.

Don’t do this, Addy, she told herself. Her instincts were at a roar again. No matter what the woman who broke into her apartment told her, she was getting nothing but bad vibes about Jax’s intentions in bringing her here.

“Jax?” she called.

“Come on up,” he replied.

Adrienne stepped slowly into the spacious attic, allowing her eyes to adjust to the poor lighting. A single bulb was on in a corner, leaving most of the attic a maze of dark shapes.

She reached the top and glanced around, trying to make out what was in the attic. What looked like a stack of boxes was a few feet from the nearest wall, and there were shelves lining all four walls beneath a tall, A-frame roof supported by wooden beams.

“Jax?”

He didn’t answer this time, and she walked towards the lighted part of the attic.

The light came from candles at a shrine to Baron Samedi. A large, stone altar was a few feet from the shrine and its candles. This part of the attic smelled like bleach, but she caught the undercurrent of something sickly sweet she didn’t recognize that made her nose wrinkle.

Her eyes took in the strange scene. It certainly looked like some place where a bokor devised black magic spells. The altar was creepy, especially the streaks of what looked like blood that had dried down the sides and the drain two feet away that appeared to be clogged with hair.

Candace’s right. This is a mistake. Adrienne swallowed hard and backed away. Starting to feel freaked out by the place, Adrienne whirled and hurried towards the stairs. She smacked into someone solid and stifled a cry of surprised, not wanting to imagine what lurked in the scary storage space.

Jax steadied her and pushed her back towards the altar.

“Addy.” The woman’s soft voice made Adrienne stop.

A tall woman with blonde hair moved from the shadows on one side of the attic. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair tied at the base of her neck. Her skin was clammy and pale, her eyes glazed but trained on Adrienne.

“Jax brought you to visit me.” Her words were faint, as if they came from far away.

Like the woman from Saturday, this woman was pretty – and not quite right.

“I’m sorry if I scared you last time.”

Adrienne shifted, not wanting to connect the bloodied altar and Samedi shrine with what happened Saturday.

“Therese?” she asked.

“Yes.” The stranger smiled. “Jax brings me back every month.”

“You left me the notes.”

“I did.” Therese’s nervous glance at Jax made Adrienne think the gang leader didn’t know about the notes. He hadn’t known about the journal, either, until Adrienne brought it up.

Why was Therese keeping secrets from the man she claimed to love?

“I, uh, didn’t have much time Saturday,” Therese rushed on. “Can I … hug you?”

Adrienne hesitated, scared by the idea of hugging a possessed zombie. She waned to ask more questions but wasn’t certain she should, unless she could get her sister alone.

“Hug your sister, Adrienne.” Jax’s low voice held a note of warning.

Adrienne moved to the woman housing Therese’s spirit. Therese hugged her hard, and Adrienne was relieved that she felt real, alive. She closed her eyes, trying hard to pretend like it really was Therese.

“I don’t understand,” Adrienne murmured, pulling her head back to view the face of the woman holding her. Up close, the woman’s features held the pale blue tinge of death.

“We’ll explain,” Therese promised. “Right now, I need to ask you something.”

“Of course.”

“I never figured out the journal. Jax says you have.”

“But didn’t you write it?”

“I did. I used to call upon the spirits to take me, to show me how to break the curse,” Therese explained. “When they came, I’d write.”

Adrienne gazed at her, wanting to believe Therese was really there, even if only in spirit form. The hopeful look in the woman’s eyes was too real for her to be pretending.

“I’m going to try,” Adrienne said. “I’m marked now.” She pulled away and pushed down her white shirt to show Therese the number written on her shoulder.

“Oh, no. No, no!” Therese whispered, staring at it. “Jax, we didn’t do it. He just chose another to take my place!”

“It’s okay, Therese.” Jax’s deep voice was soft. “I brought Adrienne here so she can help you. She’s going to stay and work on it. Right, Adrienne?”

Adrienne turned to him, unwilling to be trapped in the attic with a zombie and a black magic wielding gang leader.

Jax’s sharp look, however, made her reconsider refusing.

“Yeah,” she forced herself to say.

“Oh, Addy! Thank you!” Therese hugged her.

“We need to talk, Therese,” Adrienne said.

“Next time,” Jax said quickly, calmly. “Therese, we need to give Addy time to figure things out.”

“Yes, Addy. I can’t stand the idea of losing you to the Red Man,” Therese said, her face growing sad. “You can save us both.”

No pressure. Adrienne nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“Come on, Therese. We’ll go to your favorite spot beneath the trees.”

Therese’s attention went to Jax, and the look of affection on her face was enough for Adrienne to understand why her smile was so large in the picture. Jax’s gaze warmed, a smile touching his lips.

He held out his hand, and Therese went to him.

“Go downstairs, baby,” he told her warmly.

She smiled at him and went. Jax watched her until she’d reached the bottom of the staircase.

They really loved each other. Adrienne wasn’t certain what to think, knowing Jax was using black magic to bring her sister back from the spirit world.

When Jax faced her, her fear returned. The smile was gone, the predatory threat back.

“I’ll help you, but please don’t make me stay here,” Adrienne said.

“This is where you should be.”

“What’s going on?” she whispered. “What did you do to that woman?”

He didn’t reply.

She wasn’t able to see his face in the darkness of the attic. He moved towards her, and she tried to skirt around him to get to the stairs.

Jax blocked her.

“I just needed a bokor. I didn’t mean to … intrude,” she said, struggling to keep calm. “Whatever’s going on here, I swear I won’t tell.”

His hands rested on her shoulders. He gripped her hard enough to keep her still. His intensity and size scared her.

Adrienne’s breathing was harsh in her own ears.

“You’re safe here, Adrienne. The Red Man can’t get you. The girl from school can’t get you,” he said quietly.

“Jax,” she whispered. “Please take me home.”

“Candace says you can break the curse.”

She swallowed hard. “Maybe.”

“How?”

“Therese’s journal. I’ve been working on it on my iPad.”

“I’ve got something better.” He released her with one hand. A moment later, he pressed the familiar leather journal into hand. “How long do you need?”

“For what?” she asked.

“To break the curse.”

“I don’t even know if I can. It’s just … just a theory. Maybe, if I could talk to Therese some more …”

His hand slid from her shoulder to her neck, and he pulled her closer.

Adrienne stopped speaking, scared. She braced her arms against his chest, silently praying he wouldn’t kill her, at least not with her sister upstairs.

“You better have more than a theory.” Jax’s voice was low, calm. “I’ll give you two days, Adrienne. If you can’t break it, I’ll save the Red Man a trip.” He squeezed her throat in warning. “You understand?”

“Y…yes.”

“Good.” He released her.

She sagged, catching herself against a stack of boxes.

Jax moved away towards the stairs. “I’m going to Coffee Loa with your sister.”

“Can I do this at home?” she said in a trembling voice.

“I’ll be back tonight. It’s in your best interest to have something to show me.”

“Jax, wait!” she cried, panicking. “Please don’t leave me here!”

“Do what I say, Adrienne!” he snarled, striding towards her.

Adrienne tried to duck away, but he snatched her arms and shoved her hard into the wall, nearly knocking the breath from her. Lowering his head to meet her gaze, he glared at her, his eyes hard.

“You will do this. You will bring her back or you will take her place. I don’t give a damn which it is, Adrienne,” he growled. “Because of who you are, I’m giving you one chance to fix this. If you can’t, you’ll be the next girl the police find in an alley.”

His words terrified her. Adrienne said nothing, struggling to register the horrors that had occurred in this cellar.

“I can’t stand seeing you,” he added, a note of despair in his voice. He released her roughly and moved towards the stairs. “Too much like Therese. We tried every black magic spell there was to break the curse. Spirits help you, you better be able to do what we can’t.”

“Can I talk to her again?” Adrienne asked uncertainly.

“Maybe.” He jogged down the staircase. “Show me some progress.”

A moment later, she heard the heavy metal door slam shut and the sound of it being bolted.

Adrienne dropped to her knees, hugging the journal and breathing hard. It took a long moment before she was able to master her emotions enough to stand without sobbing. She pulled herself up with the help of the boxes and looked around.

Her eyes settled on the altar near the candlelight. She knew that smell now. It was the scent of death, like when a cat crawled under the porch of her mama’s house and died.

Except a cat didn’t die here. The woman housing Therese’s spirit had.

You’ll be the next girl the police find in an alley.

She’d been afraid of Jax since she met him, but he seemed to know something about her sister. Was he really the serial killer plaguing the Lower Ninth Ward? Were the bodies police found those of women he’d slain as hosts for Therese?

Did Therese know what Jax was doing to bring her back? Was her sister as guilty of misusing magic as Jax?

Wiping her face, Adrienne ventured closer to the altar and shrine. She’d never feared Baron Samedi, the god who oversaw the dead. His shrine, however, was sinister, the blood splattered cement around it a testament to the blood rites Jax was performing.

Was she next, if she didn’t figure out how to break the curse?

What would the cards tell her?

Adrienne set down her backpack, unaware of how heavy it was until it was gone. She rolled her shoulders back. They felt bruised, if not from the bag then from Jax’s grip on her.

She skirted through the altar and shrine area, disgusted by it, and grabbed a candle. Hurrying back to her bag, she dropped to her knees and set down the candle before pulling out her cards.

With a deep breath to calm herself, she focused on how to escape the attic. Her hands shook as she shuffled, and she laid out a spread of three and three.

“Please, please help me,” she whispered to the spirits. “Show me what to do.”

She turned over the cards one at a time, growing more puzzled as she went. When she was done, she sat back.

Two of Pentacles, reversed

Two of Swords, reversed

Two of Pentacles, reversed

Two of Swords, reversed

High Priestess, reversed

Devil, reversed

“This isn’t possible,” she said, struggling to understand the story before her. Like her vision in the car, the cards had taken on their own life, showing her what she didn’t think was possible. “There’s only one of each card in the deck!” She stared at them, convinced the stress of her situation was making her misread them.

She closed her eyes, counted to three, then opened them.

The cards hadn’t changed.

She was close to crying again.

“A good spread.”

She twisted at the unfamiliar voice and sprang to her feet.

The Red Man was nearby, fully materialized and glowing faintly in the dark attic.

Adrienne backed away until she hit the wall, too stunned to release the scream building up in her chest.

“What does the two mean?” he asked.

She stared.

“Girl!” His sharp tone was accompanied by a snap of his fingers.

“Duality,” she blurted out. “Balance with myself … and others, intuition and thought.”

He moved closer to her cards, peering at them.

Is this really happening? She felt like she was close to fainting. “Are you … are you here to kill me?”

“No.” The dark opening of the hood turned to her. “Your cards say you haven’t been listening to the spirits. Probably why I’m here.”

She said nothing, terrified of moving or speaking.

“Maybe you’re not strong enough yet,” he added. He reached up to remove his hood.

She squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to imagine what kind of monster he was.

“Girl!” Another snap of his fingers.

She jumped, more afraid of what he’d do if she upset him than what he looked like. Adrienne opened one eye then the other.

Her heart felt like it stopped.

The Red Man was almost identical to Jayden, except his eyes were green. She gazed at him, emotion surging within her, even knowing it wasn’t the boy who held her heart then broke it.

“Sometimes our choices are hard,” he said. “Mine included. To continue chasing Therese or to take low hanging fruit?” His gaze swept over her. “Just one life.” The words were soft, yearning.

She pressed herself against the wall, not liking the way he looked at her.

“The easy route. I almost always take it,” he said. He shook his head. “I still might.”

“We’re going to break your curse,” she managed. “You can’t have either of us.”

“Intriguing,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “You don’t know.”

She said nothing. All along, she’d felt something was wrong. That maybe there was more to Therese’s story in New Orleans than she knew. It was disrespectful to think poorly of the dead, and so she’d chosen to focus on how good Therese was.

“Know what?” she asked, sensing she wasn’t going to be able to be oblivious any longer.

“Therese offered you in her place.”

“What? No.” She shook her head firmly. “She’d never do that.”

“You cannot deny that she is not what others remember. I know you know differently. I know you know she had a side that no one else knew.”

“Yes, but this is different.”

“I’ve had multiple chances to claim you. You’ve seen me and ignored me. Did you not think I wanted to speak to you?”

“How?” she asked. “I don’t never use black magic.”

“Our families are linked, Adrienne. You simply could’ve asked your ancestors, the one who condemned the ninety-nine in your maternal line,” he said. “But you didn’t.” He gestured at the cards. “You asked everyone what Therese was involved in except those who could tell you.”

Adrienne shook her head, starting to tremble. “Don’t matter now. I ain’t leavin’ here unless Jax kills me and drags me out.”

“Jax and the zombie. Almost as tragic as my love story,” he mused. “You don’t want to hear what I have to say, but you will hear it.” He approached as he spoke, his face harder than Jayden’s had ever been. The air around him rippled with his robe and the dark magic clinging to him.

Unable to move, she simply watched him come, tears stinging her eyes and cheeks.

“If your sister succeeds in breaking my curse, if she brings herself back to life permanently, I will claim thousands, maybe millions more,” he said quietly. “I will kill until the debt I owe is paid. The blood of the St. Croix will fill the streets, and I will spare no one. No one. I must claim the last life owed.”

Adrienne flinched at his tone.

“And all that I do will be a fraction of what the zombie will do, if she is permitted to find a new host and break the curse I am here to enforce.”

She looked up, astonished. “My sister –”

“Set you up. Set Jax up. Look at those cards, Adrienne.” He snatched her arm and dragged her back to them. “Duality. Power and intuition. Choices and fate. Life and Death. You and her.”

“I don’t understand!” she cried.

“Good and evil. An ancient prophecy brought to life by the curse in your House. If she rises again, she will bring unparalleled evil with her.”

Adrienne’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at the cards. He was reading them at a level she couldn’t imagine, one only a spirit could see.

He released her. She dropped to her knees.

“Which will you be, Adrienne? Because I know which your sister is. Without balance, there is destruction. I can kill you now, but I risk unleashing her upon the world without you to balance her.”

“You … you’re saying I’m meant to become a mambos, like my mother and grandmother?” she asked.

“I’m saying you are meant to become the mambos who prevents what the spirits fear will happen, should your sister reclaim what she’s lost,” he said quietly. “This is what prevents me from taking you. You were chosen, girl, to stop an ancient prophecy. The threat and the solution both originate from your House.”

She touched the cards. She tried to find untruth in his logic or an instinct that warned her he was manipulating or lying to her.

If anything, his words felt truer than any others she’d ever heard.

“If I become … powerful,” she murmured. “I can help Jayden.”

“You can help his family. My family. We are connected to yours and have been for four hundred years. The curse has linked our fates in a way that cannot be broken,” he answered.

“But Therese …”

“Has helped kill twenty three women. Innocent women.”

She looked up, unable to fathom Therese hurting anyone.

“No,” she said forcefully. “She gave me the journal. The song will break the spell. Why else would she do that, if she turned me over to you?”

“Because, sister of Therese...” He knelt beside her, bringing his intensity with him. “The song she wrote will free her of the spirit world. It will allow her to reclaim what she’s lost. Your sister has been dedicated to black magic for quite some time.”

“If that’s true, why did she give it …” she drifted off. “So I could bring her back. She didn’t know it was a song, did she?”

“Not until you figured it out.”

Adrienne felt ill.

“And now you have a choice, Adrienne,” he said. “You can accept your fate or you can become the last life I need to fulfill my debt and let the zombie loose upon the world. I fear, however, that my penance will be extended, if I don’t let you live. A dangerous prophecy is upon us, one you are involved in. If evil is loose upon the world, and I am the one who allowed it to happen … I’ve been down that road before. I don’t want to take a second trip.”

She shrank away from him. Her mind was reeling with the information he provided. The events of her week began to fall into place. The warnings her cards gave her, the connection she felt with Jayden... Jax’s threats.

The dark side of her sister she’d tried to forget.

Even the timing of her ability to sing being stripped. If what the Red Man said was true, she’d missed warnings from the spirits, who had taken a different type of action to prevent her from singing the song. The careful truth she’d been avoiding – that Therese had more than a curiosity for black magic – crystalized. It wasn’t possible that Therese claimed a temporary host without knowing what happened to the women whose bodies she overtook.

She dropped her gaze to the black journal. Pain like that she felt five years ago when she first heard the news her beloved sister had died robbed her of breath and made her double over. Her insides hurt with the kind of pain that came from no physical source but managed to be far more crippling.

Picking up the journal, she began to cry. The pain intensified, fed by fear that she was doing something she’d regret. Adrienne opened the diary with hands that shook almost too much for her to hold it.

She lowered the pages over the candle until they caught fire. Flames devoured the dry paper. She dropped the journal.

“Good girl.” The Red Man said. “Now, you leave, before they come back to claim your body.”

She shuddered, fresh terror filling her. Adrienne gathered her tarot cards clumsily and stuffed them into her backpack.

When she looked up, the Red Man was gone and light from the hallway spilled into the attic, indicating the door at the bottom of the stairs was open.

Unwilling to believe her sister meant to kill her, even if she’d taken other lives, Adrienne stumbled down the stairs, falling more than once. She ran blindly down a second set of stairs to the main floor and darted to the front door, wrenched it open, and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk.

She stopped and looked around, wanting to scream or break down and sob. Aware her danger wasn’t passed, she wiped her eyes quickly and oriented herself. She didn’t know anything about New Orleans or even what direction Jax had driven her. How did she get home?

A flash of red came from her peripheral. She turned and saw the faint glimmer of the Red Man’s robe leading up the stairs of the neighboring house, whose windows glowed warmly with light. The glimmer faded and disappeared.

Rene’s neighbor. The woman from the clinic.

Hope surging, Adrienne raced down the path the red light had gone to the front door of Jax’s neighbor. She pounded on the door and soon heard the sounds of someone approaching the door.

Rene’s aunt opened the door and stared at her.

“Rene do that?” she demanded, taking in Adrienne’s distraught features and swollen eyes.

Adrienne shook her head, unable to help the laugh that escaped. Within seconds, it turned into crying.

“C’mon, cinnamon rolls,” the woman said. “You in time for dinner.”

“I need … phone,” Adrienne managed.

“You need food. You all skin and bones. I’ll call Rene fo’ you and you eat.”

Adrienne nodded and made herself stop crying.

The nurse was on the phone before Adrienne slid her book bag to the ground. She spoke for a moment then handed the phone to Adrienne.

“What the hell you doing there?” Rene demanded.

“Jax.” She couldn’t get out any other words and definitely couldn’t explain that the Red Man had freed her.

Silence, and then, “Don’t go nowhere. You hear me? Don’t talk to no one, don’t do shit until I’m there.”

She nodded, not caring that he couldn’t see her.

“Put my aunt on.”

Adrienne handed the phone off to the round woman waiting. She went to the window to peek out, afraid she’d find Jax on the doorstep. His motorcycle was gone. The strange flashes of light on the sidewalk in front of his home drew her attention.

With a glance at Rene’s neighbor to make sure she was still on the phone, Adrienne cracked the front door open to get a better look.

She gasped, pushing the screen door open and trotting down the stairs.

The journal fire had spread. The flickering light was from flames that filled the attic of Jax’s house. Smoke poured out of one window on the main floor.

Adrienne watched, uncertain what to feel. Sorrow deep enough to make her hold herself. It wasn’t just about losing Therese and her last belonging. It was for the sense of betrayal that had sunk into her gut the moment she felt the Red Man’s words were true.

Horror and anger mixed with the sense of loss.

What if the Red Man was right about everything? He had to claim his last victim or a prophecy foretelling death would fall upon the world, brought by Therese when she rose again. Therese, Jayden, Rene, Jax … they and their families were all connected.

Adrienne couldn’t let her sister return, even if she didn’t understand yet how to prevent it. She had to learn to listen and channel the magic of the spirits and gods – fast – and find a way to unite those who could help her: Jayden, who didn’t know who she was, and Rene, who was loyal to his brother.

Adrienne watched the flames that began to lick at the roof of the house. Scared yet resolved, she mentally urged Rene to hurry, before Jax returned.